Dear Parents and Carers,

As we reach the end of another busy term at TBSHS, it is great to be able to highlightso many significant successes and achievement for our students and reflect on thecontinued development of our school.

Whilst learning has clearly continued to be our primary focus this term, thecontribution to our enrichment programme from staff and students has been asimpressive as ever. The music festival back in February provided so many of ourexcellent young musicians with an opportunity to show off their talents, but alsoprovided them with many development opportunities as they were exposed to expertcoaching from some very experienced and high profile professional musicians. Thefestival finalé was a grand occasion and we were delighted to be joined by the eminent American jazz trombonist,Jiggs Whigham, to adjudicate the very closely contested competition. Congratulations should go to all studentsinvolved throughout the two weeks, but especially to our overall winner and Musician of the Year, Miles Bruce-Jones.

Our Awards Evening at the very end of last term was a great success, with Lord Rowan Williams returning to theschool to present the awards and provide us with a rich, insightful address on the importance of commitment inall that we do, which has formed the overarching theme of our assemblies for the spring term.

Participation in the extra-curricular programme continues to be hugely impressive and was underlined by thesheer volume of students involved in the House Football at Jobbers Wood in early March. It was also great to seeso many parents and family members there providing much appreciated support and encouragement. The HouseDrama was similarly successful with students showing great commitment to rehearsals. This year’s Interactproduction, Showcase 2015, was yet another opportunity for student leadership to flourish at TBSHS and theycertainly didn’t disappoint. All students involved were incredibly well-organised and hugely dedicated to makingthe event another smash hit and the final product on Thursday and Friday night last week was a great celebrationof their talents.

Our students have again chalked up some notable achievements in the sporting arena this term. The Year 7 and8 rugby teams have both picked up 7-a-side silverware, the Year 7 and 9 football teams won their respectivedistrict 6-a-side competitions and the Year 9 A team produced some fantastic performances to make it all theway to the quarter finals of the English Schools FA cup.

In the regional debating competition the judges complimented Will Ashley-Fenn and Pascal Queeney for theextremely high standard of presentation of their case, but at the end of the evening, KEGS were declared narrowwinners, with TBSHS a very close second. Although this result means we missed out on the national final laterthis month, it places the school in the top 25 out of the 350 English schools that entered the competition. Inaddition, as a Year 12 student, Pascal automatically qualifies for a place in the trials for the team to representEngland in the World Schools Debating Competition next year, a very exciting prospect.

Each of these enrichment opportunities is only possible, of course, because of the great commitment anddedication shown by our staff. So many colleagues give up lots of their own time to ensure the students are ableto develop in areas beyond our normal curriculum, for which I am truly grateful.

The launch of GCSEPod to provide our Year 10 and 11 students with another revision tool has proven incrediblypopular. It is our expectation that when used alongside (not instead of) more traditional methods of exampreparation, such as synthesising notes or practicing past exam paper questions, GCSEPod will enhance theirknowledge base and improve their level of understanding.

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Hunt, who leaves our Learning Support department after makinga huge contribution to the school over 23 years. Many hundreds of students have benefitted from the supportshe has provided over that time. She will be sorely missed by students and staff alike and we wish her the verybest of luck in her retirement.

We were delighted to hear from the Department for Education (DfE) that TBSHS was one of the schools selectedfor support to improve our school site, as part of the Priority School Building Programme phase 2. This couldresult in some major refurbishment work that would have a positive impact on the learning environment for largeparts of the school, though we have no confirmation on the timescale for this. In addition, we are continuing to

explore with the local authority the possibility of relocating to the land adjacent to Whittington Way. We willneed to consider both of these redevelopment opportunities carefully to establish which would provide us withthe best possible facilities for the future.

We are again indebted to the continued support from parents this term. The PTFA Quiz the hall in February andthe PSA Irish night in March were both very well attended and raised substantial funds to support school activities.In addition, parents’ attendance at events such as House Drama, Showcase and House Football also provide greatencouragement for our students to get involved.

We are in the process of analysing the feedback we received from students and parents through the Kirkland-Rowell survey that so many of you completed before half-term. We have already analysed the feedback fromstaff which contained many positives, particularly in relation to students’ improved attitudes to learning.

Easter services provided a sense of hope and promise for the summer ahead and we wish the very best of luckto all those students about to commence the long examination period. I’m sure the work they have put in thusfar, supported by their teachers, will give them every opportunity to reach their full potential.

I wish everyone a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break and look forward to seeing you back, hopefully refreshed,in the new term.

Kind regards,

Dale Reeve

Headteacher

Academic

GCSE BOOST……. GCSEpod service launched.

The school was very pleased to announce the launch of a new online service called GCSEPod just after half term.It is completely free to our students and which we believe will be of great benefit to them when studying GCSEcourses.

GCSEPod has over 3,500 teacher-written, audio-visual podcasts produced specifically for mobile devices andcontaining all the right facts, quotes, keywords, dates and annotated diagrams that learners need for GCSEsuccess.  The GCSEPod website can be viewed on mobiles, tablets and PCs and the podcasts can be downloadedfor offline viewing.  The podcasts are also mapped to the curriculum and are designed to support students in theclassroom, with their homework and during exam time.  We see the service as a valuable supplement to otherapproaches to learning, it should not be seen as a replacement!

The launch of the service to students took place during week commencing 23rd February for Year eleven, tenand nine. An explanation of the service and the login procedure was provided.  We recommend that you discussGCSEPod with your son, ensure that they have correct login details to enter the site and encourage them to makeuse of this service throughout their year.

 Further details on the service and its benefits can be obtained from www.gcsepod.com

Head of Faculty Report Arts & PE FacultyI would like to pay tribute to all of my colleagues who help to put this school on the map in so many ways. Whetherthrough drama, sport, music, art, film, media etc., when parents look to a school for their child, the Arts/PE Facultyoffers so much in the way of extra-curricular opportunities and this has been evident once again throughout thisterm. I would like to highlight the commitment teachers and parents share in the Arts/PE faculty. The staff andparent turnout on a Saturday to help with sports fixtures/training (and those colleagues from other faculties whodo so too), the staff and parent turnout after school until late whether for music or drama events, the staff turnoutfor evening trips to assorted venues and of course the staff turnout every morning, lunchtime and evening tosupport the keen or talented with their work. I had the pleasure of attending a PSA Surf Night at Jobbers Woodrecently to raise money for the upcoming rugby tour; I would like to thank the parents and PE staff that put in somuch of their time and hard work to make events such as these a success. The sole aim of this association is toraise money to provide sporting kit, equipment, experiences and opportunities for our students. Also Mrs Jonas,our faculty support deserves particular mention too as she has work terribly hard in keeping things runningsmoothly regarding our recent Music Festival and performance evenings.

PE success• Swimming – Came 2nd in the annual College v Harrow v TBSHS fixture by only 3 points.

• Rugby 7’s - this year we have gone from strength to strength winning the U13 Bedford Moderntournament, U12 New Hall ‘East of England’ tournament and finishing 2nd in both the U13Berkhamstead and U13 Hertfordshire County Schools competitions.

• Football – Had a really strong season since Christmas with the U14’s reaching the last 8 of theESFA National Cup before losing to Hampton School and several year groups through to districtfinals U12, U13, U14 and several others in semi-finals. We have on occasion put out 4 teams fromone year group to play against Harrow School and Berkhamstead which has a very positive impacton the number of boys playing competitive sport for the school.

• Cross-Country – Continues to grow in popularity and we recently won the St Edmund’s crosscountry event and Felsted event at all age groups.

Drama success• Will Price (Year 10) and Harry Bennet (Year 8) in professional theatre on National Tour with ToKill A Mockingbird. Harrison Boulter (Year 7) TV work.

• Theatre trips to Bouncers, Rhodes Centre, Lysistrata, Mumford Theatre Cambridge and Othello,Lyric Hammersmith.

• Several A2 students have applied and secured University Offers to study Drama.

• Many students have performed and are performing over Easter at The Rhodes Centre and theHarlow Playhouse. Break a Leg!

• Music Festival singing: Alex Stevens won intermediate section in music fest and Robin Franklinin advanced section singing Musical Theatre pieces. Well done!

Film success.• Some promising films emerging from early drafts of the AS and A2 coursework.

• Good attendance at support sessions.

Media Success

• Media Clinic has been well attended throughout Year 11 , 12 and 13.

Music success• Music Festival: Miles Bruce-Jones overall winner; lots of visiting professionals giving masterclasses etc (full details on website).

• A-Level Recital: Some fantastic performances produced by students nearing the end of theircurrent courses.

• John Duffy passed grade 8 saxophone with distinction.

• ABRSM exams happening next week (students working on grades 1-8).

• Eli Haines playing at Ronnie Scott’s

Art success• Another trip to the Royal Academy to see the Rubens exhibition with Year 8s.

• Kit designs being produced that will be professionally printed for the Rugby tour in Australiathis summer.

• Continuing extra-curricular work being carried out during lunchtimes.

• About to embark on a wider community project to paint murals on new gym in Bishop’s Stortfordwith Year 9s.

I shall leave you in the capable hands of my colleagues who will enlighten you in more depth.

Happy Easter.

Natalie Maher

Head of Faculty: Creative Arts & PE

ART

Spring termThe spring term really has sped by and as always it has been another enjoyable and busy one. Picking up fromwhere we left off in the autumn edition, Mr Pearson-Phillips and I accompanied a group of 6th form art studentsto the Royal Academy just before Christmas to see the fantastic Anselm Kiefer exhibition. More recently wefound ourselves back at the RA, this time with a group of Year 7s where they got the opportunity to see the workof Rubens, and experience their first Friday after school trip. We are now in full flow with the exam developmentwith Years 11, 12 and 13 so it’s that time where students are busy thinking of exciting ideas and approaches totheir themes. The Year 10s have had their exams and are shaping into a strong group of GCSE artists, and Year9s are showing much promise. Another notable point from this term has been the start of an extra curricularlink with a local gym that has just opened by the Bishop’s Stortford Football Club. Mr Mullings, a parent of 3 boysat the school, has given student the opportunity to paint some murals on the interior walls. Work has recentlystarted and there is much excitement surround this as it progresses.

Our visit to the Anselm Kiefer exhibition already seems like a long time ago now. It was a really impressiveexhibition and the work on show was impressive on many levels. The sheer scale of the Kiefer’s painting was asight to behold; we encourage our A Level students to be ambitious in terms of scale but this was a whole differentleague. The sculptures were also really imposing and striking. There was a sense of darkness in his work whichcoupled with the size was quite moving; his work acted as a narrative of life through the decades spanning over4 decades. I hope our students were able to be influenced by his use of materials, stylistic methods and originality.

As with all our Friday night trips, the gallery was followed by a meal, this time at Bella Italia right in the heartLeicester Square. It is always a lovely opportunity, with all year groups, to be able to take them away from theschool environment and see another side to them, and them of us. As ever our students did TBSHS proud withtheir behaviour and conduct.

The exterior of the Royal Academy during the Anselm Kiefer exhibition

An example of Kiefer’s momentous and moving paintings that incorporate combination of paint and othermixed media.

Our next trip to the Royal Academy was with boys at the other end of the school, an opportunity for Year 7s thistime. Here is Mr Pearson Phillip’s account of the evening.

Yr 7 trip to the RA to see the Rubens exhibition.Now Rubens is not one of my favourite painters. His imagery is too colourful, too wieldy, too complex: in shortthere is too much going on! However, I had to shelve my prejudices (I have millions!) and I agreed to MrWithyman’s request that we see the work of this Flemish master and for me it was a case of re-calibrating theseconcerns and trying to see things afresh. To help me to do this we had a merry band of year 7’s, all eager to ‘goto London’ and experience the delights of this wonderful gallery. Mr Withyman led the party, ably supported byMr Smith and myself. Thus we set off to the train station, alighted at Tottenham Hale and after a few stops wearrived at Piccadilly Circus; where of course our eyes were kept solidly on every bobbing little head as thesemeandered like a sequence of little dots, with one teacher at the front, one in the middle and one barking atthem all from the back (it’s a worry taking wee ones anywhere – are they getting smaller?).

However, once we’d arrived, (and the journey is quick) we allowed the boys to breathe the work in and theysoon started to sketch. Then the questions arrived. ‘Sir, why is….what does….how can….where are…I wonderif….could the…? This is wonderful in fact because these innocent, untrammelled insights help you to see the workthrough another's lens. You get an alternative perspective. Indeed, one of the nice things about the trip was thatladies and gentlemen engage with you as you answer the questions. For example, look at this painting….

What is going on? Is it a straightforward image? How would you describe the woman? Were you to analyse thecontents, what conclusions might you reach? What is the relationship of both to one another? Look at the relativescale of the heads? What of the background? How does it read to you? What of the clothing? What is the functionof the dog (is there anything symbolic here?). It is when questions such as these are posed that the honest insightof the boys and those of often elderly ladies help you to see things in a way that you may not have done previously.It is also delightful as people are so impressed by our boys, and are charmed by their good manners and

considerate attitude. In no time at all, the sketchbooks are filling up with some really lovely work and the boysare getting much from this experience.

Afterwards, Mr Withyman, Mr Smith and Iescorted the boys to Bella Italia in Leicester Squarewhere we all had a ‘slap up meal’ (I’m a Beanofan!!) as we discussed the work and what they gotout of it.

Ideally, we would like to take many more studentson trips such as this, but that would impact onlessons. Taking 18 – 24 students on a Friday meanseverything is manageable: and they get to reallysee the work as the galleries are quiet.

The boys who went on the trip were: Harry Lines,Joe Metson, Max Bennett, Callum Smith, MaxFrost, Toby Howe, Joseph Attworth, NathanielCarn, Nathaniel Lee, Oliver Todd, Sunny Neal, ZachLeret, Rory Kenney and Jude Duggan.

Mr Pearson-Phillips

'Portrait of Maria Grimaldi and Dwarf' by PeterPaul Rubens.

Year 7 & 8Our Year 7 and 8s are showing lots of promise and have been working on a range of projects throughout the year.

Currently Year 7s are working on the classic Swagger Project while Year 8s are turning their hand to some claysculptures, based on Kafka’s Metamorphosis.

Year 7 drawings: Max Bennett, Josiah Orange, James Bentley, Jamie Dunne

Year 8 clay sculptures from top left going clockwise: Oliver Stevens, Loius Obeng, LoiusSutherland, Alex Behra

As mentioned students higher up in the school are well underway with their exam development, responding tohe following themes: Year 11 Together and/or Apart, Year 12 Relationships and Year 13 Flaws, Ideals, Perfectionand Compromise. This is 40% of the overall mark so will have a huge impact on their grade. The 60% courseworkhas pretty much all been completed now. Here is a selection of the diverse range of work that has been producedby our Year 12 and 13s. I think you will agree we do not have a house style! This point actually raises a veryinteresting debate and one where a balance is crucial. On one hand Mr Pearson Phillips and I could set out atthe beginning of the year exactly what each student in Year 11, 12 and 13 will produce, and basically prescribeeverything they do. This will undoubtedly lead to a pleasing set of results, as we know what students need todo in order to get a high grade. It will also mean that each sketchbook will look the same. Not so good. Wewant to encourage creativity! We want to encourage independence, and for students to explore, and producework about things they are passionate about. Inevitably some find this easier than others, and while one studentwill be able to run with an idea, others will need much more structure and guidance. This makes the job ofteaching art challenging but also far more rewarding, both for the teacher and for the student. So the dilemma

is; heavily structure and prescribe a course that everyone sticks to rigidly that may go further towardsguaranteeing a pleasing set of results, but not necessarily equip learners with skills that will be valuable in thelong term. Or do we take more of a risk by allowing students to find their own answers, to take risks, to get thingswrong, to experiment, and produce meaningful and purposeful work? I go for the latter. My wife, who is alsosubject leader in art at a school in Upminster, went to a school that achieved 14 A*s at GCSE and nothing belowa C. The feedback Kate got from the school was that they feel that creativity is stifled. A very impressive set ofresults for the school, but perhaps not much of an experience for the learner.

So with that, here is a taste of what you will see if you come to our exhibition which will be on display at theschool around the beginning of July.

A selection of KS5 coursework

From top left going clockwise: Taylor Sharpe, Thomas Jackson, Jonathan Whitmore, Hannah Mehew, MichaelLamb, Gemma Thomas.

I mentioned in the previous edition of the Mitre about an extra curricular project being negotiated with theowner of a new gym being built in Bishop’s Stortford. Mr Mullings has now opened the gym and a group of Year9 boys have begun work on painting the interior. The theme of the painting is based around the work of theAmerican artist Keith Haring. Anyone familiar with his work will know that during the 1980's Haring producedlarge scale, graphic style works of art that can be related to Pop Art and graffiti. The boys have been respondingto his work and appropriating it so it will fit within the context of a gym environment. The idea is that brightcolours and clean repeat patterns will be painted on the walls and give those attending Mr Mulling's gym thatextra bit of motivation to lift those weights!

It is a great opportunity to get out of the school gates and contribute to the wider community, and see how artcan be applied beyond school and education.

I look forward to posting photos in the next edition of the Mitre showing much progress made and colour on thewalls.

The name of the gym is Koru Gym, www.korugym.com Mr Mullings is offering a gym membership for £35 amonth for adults and £20 a month for students.

The boys involved in the project are: Ollie Nancarrow, Ben Ashworth, Louis Mendel, Harry Burrows, Jake Twitchett,Jake Hepworth, Taran Panesar, Will Ray, Joseph Eringa, Jordan Perry, George Hobart, Will Skingley, Ollie Newmanand Tom Davey.

There may be some others from Year 8 getting involved too as the painting progresses.

The gym as it looked before Christmas.

The boys setting to work on what is a great and monumental blank canvas

With the summer term approaching and exams looming, the year seems to be rapidly speeding by. Dates forthe art exams have been confirmed and both the GCSE and A Levels will be taking place on the 18th and 19th ofJune, with the moderation happening the following week. Focus next term will obviously be based aroundpreparing for the summer examinations and setting up the exhibition which will showcase everyone’s work readyto be viewed. I will also be putting together an itinerary for the final trip of the year, the Music and Art tour toBarcelona. That coupled with the ongoing extra curricular activities inside and out of school we can safely saythat it will be another full term ahead.

Mr Withyman

P WITHYMAN and J PEARSON-PHILLIPS

DramaIt was another busy term in the Drama Department rich with extra-curricular clubs, rehearsals, theatre trips andthe AS Monologue & Duologue performance evening. Please read about what the students in our departmenthave been getting up to with many in upcoming television and local theatre productions. I would like to thankmy colleagues Natalie Maher, Janine Stephens, Andy Hayes and Claire Jonas for all their hard work and dedicationto the students, the department and the extra-curricular activities that we run. A big thank you to those studentswho have helped us with clubs, events and productions.

Congratulations to the following students for receiving University Offers to read Drama, Theatre Studies:

Josie Lupprian - Loughborough, Oxford Brooks, Exeter, Royal Holloway

Jodie Belcher - University of Essex, Lincoln, Canterbury Christchurch and Anglia Ruskin

Eloise Baker - Royal Holloway and Roehampton:

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about our Drama Website: www.tbshsdrama.co.uk Pleasevisit our website for an opportunity to view photos and write ups of productions past and present, extra-curricularopportunities, extra- curricular timetable, calendar of upcoming events and trips, curriculum information andnewsletters. Thanks to Tony Hepworth for photography of Drama events this year.

Have a great Easter!

Hayley Bart-Williams

Head of Drama.

Extra-Curricular Clubs Report

Drama Scholars(Year 7-8) Monday lunchtimes. Studio 26 Sam Bojakowski

Drama scholars have been working hard this term, working on a script of Ernie's Incredible Illucinations. Theyhave been using their Monday lunchtimes effectively, working through rehearsal techniques that have beendeveloped by well known theatre practitioners e.g. Stanislavski's idea of every line having an objective. The skillsthat they have been developing, during the sessions run by Sam Bojakowski and Alex Rankin, are of a GCSEstandard, and will help them through their development as highly capable actors. This term has seen greatcommitment and development of the young team, and their continued dedication shall see them evolve intodiversely skilled performers.

The drama department would like to say a massive thank you to their scholars this term who have workedextremely hard. Their contribution is invaluable and their commitment to the department is exemplary.

Technical Theatre Crew(Year 7-13) Monday after school Studio 70 Mr Andy Hayes

Technical Theatre Club has just started up again, some students have carried on from last year along with a coupleof new recruits. They are all eager to learn and their creativity is already starting to show through. TTC is a greatway of learning all about the technical aspects of theatre and stage production. You get to go behind the scenesat all the big school events, climb ladders (under the supervision of Mr Hayes), work with lights and sound andobtain a general knowledge of all things to do with stage production. If you like the sound of exploring what abackstage technician gets up to then come along to Technical Theatre Club, Mondays after School.

Lower School Drama Club(Year 7/8)

Students from Lower School Drama Club finished off their work on Commedia dell'arte at the start of term,performing in Lower School Celebration Assembly in January. We then moved on to more general improvisationskills, looking at using a selection of props as the basis for a plot. We have also looked at short sections of scriptand improvised ways of incorporating scripted sections into longer, unscripted sketches. Since half-term, LowerSchool Drama Club have been working with Middle School Drama Club, where Year 9 students have run sessionsfor the younger students. Thanks go to Mrs Stephens and her Year 9s for their fantastic work here! Mrs TanyaPanayiotou

Middle school drama club(Year 9/10) Friday lunchtime studio

Middle School Drama Cub (years 9&10) going from strength to strength. We have  been composing our ownpieces recently as well as adapting script work. We have played around with sound and movement for comic

effect, as well as being given the opportunity to teach some Frantic Assembly movement to the year 7&8 group.It is a chance for those with a keen interest in drama to challenge themselves, picking scripts that they may notget the opportunity to study in lessons. We are  working hard towards performing our current pieces  to GCSEDrama classes later  on in the year.  We are always on the lookout for new members so if you are interested inexperimenting with the work you have done in class pop along Thursday lunchtime 1.20 . You do not have to takethe subject to come along; if you are interested in performing and are in years 9 & 10 then you would be verywelcome.

Janine Stephens

Production ReportAn excellent performance evening where the year 13s showcased their talents. Every performance directed andwritten by the cast.

Performance 1: No Confidence

Set against the backdrop of the ‘Vote of No Confidence’ in 1979, theplay tells the story of the top two whips in the Labour and Conservativeparties as they frantically struggle with each other to secure MPs forthe grand showdown in the Houses of Commons. The play takes adeeply satirical view on late 70s politics, exaggerating the stereotypesof the Labour and Conservative parties to create a colourful array ofworking class, deeply hypocritical  heroes and private-schooled,innuendo-dropping  toffs, whilst exploring one of the  closest -and comedic -  political blunders of the last 50 years. By Callum Perry,Dennis Perry, Edward Ray and Jack Thomas

Performance2: Hiding Behind The Lies

Hiding Behind The Lies is a thrilling performance in a Frantic Assemblystyle. This physical piece explores the meaning of family life throughwell-choreographed sequences. It tells the story of a happy familywhose life is disrupted by the presence of a manipulative mistress. Herhigh levels of jealousy lead her to commit a horrible murder, and wesee how the lives of the family members are disrupted by thiscataclysmic event. By Jodie Belcher, Sam Bojakowski, Abigail Natali,Ryan Probyn, Jessica Roach and Aimee Wilson

Performance 3: A Comedy of Cock-UpsThis play explores the lives of two middle and upper class couples,Earnest and Agatha, and Hazel and James, living their day to day livesin a normal fashion. However when they meet for dinner one evening,some personalities clash and others combine, causing a turbulent endto what seemed to be a lovely evening. Consequently the couples reachout to one another leaving their original partner behind with Earnestenjoying a cheeky day at the art gallery with Hazel, and James poppingover to Agatha’s for quick drink which ends when the two becomecloser than ever before. But how can these couples be together whenthey are married? The only option they come to is…murder! So theyplot to poison their partners at dinner the next evening. What startsoff as a lovely meal, begins getting out of hand when real personalitiesbegin to show. So the poisoning begins, but with all that poison surelythere must be something that goes wrong? By Eloise Baker, JosieLupprian, Jack Tulloch and Jonathan Whitmore.

Performance 4: SinSin attempts to explore the theme of body dysmorphic disorder, aserious condition which affects many people. Lucy, the centralcharacter, believes that she should strive to be skinnier and more likewhat she believes is socially expected of her. However, her attempt tochange herself, as a way of becoming more accepted in society, leadsto an increase in the number of seven deadly sins she commits.  Sheindulges in a variety of sins to change who she is as a person, but it isnot enough, and it can never be enough for her. The scenes arestructured around one sin individually, each one represented throughmovement and prose to create the final piece. By Abigail Daniels,George Hulkes, Sean Laycock Sarah Snowdon and Alex Stevens

Hayley Bart-Williams

6th Form Productions coming up

AS Monologue & Duologue Performance Evening

24/03/15

At the point of writing this the performance evening has yet to occur however if the dress rehearsals and mockexaminations are anything to go by, the performances are going to be of an incredibly high standard. Theperformances take place on Tuesday 24�� of March from 6pm-9pm where our AS Edexcel examiner will be inattendance in Studio 70. Performances span several theatrical styles from comedy to naturalism to stylised piecesto physical theatre with beautiful movement sequences. We have picked works from Steven Berkoff, BryonyLavery, Abi Morgan, Polly Stenham, Sharman Macdonald, Philip Ridley and Martin McDonagh.

EAST

Matthew Port assumes the role of Mum from Steven Berkoff's 'East', a mother from theEast End growing ever-more tired with her passionless relationship with her husband. Mumlaments about her fading love life and physical detachment, going on to relay the story ofher attempted casual affair with an anonymous young man in the cinema.

THAT FACE

Isabelle Peck and Esther Roberts play the roles of Izzy and Mia in ‘That Face’ by PollyStenham. The play, set in a boarding school in the present day, features two girls trying tofind a solution to the drugging of a thirteen year old girl when an initiation ceremony turnssour. The two part play tells the story of drugs, alcohol, distant parents and anunconventional family.

DECANDENCE

Shem Jacobs playing the role of Steve in Stephen Berkoff’s Decadence. Decadence is setin 1980s, and pokes fun at the stereotypical upper class ….., namely Steve and Helen,inebriated off the power their wealth gives them. Steve is dining, whilst verbally abusinghis waiter, Giovanni, and shoving whatever food that comes his way down his throat.

LOVE SONGLovesong intertwines a couple in their 20s with the same man and woman a lifetime later.Their past and present selves collide in this beautiful tale of togetherness. All relationshipshave their ups and downs; the optimism of youth becomes the wisdom of experience.Love is a leap of faith.

AND ALL THE CHILDREN CRIEDTwo women are in prison. Their crimes? Killing children. One of the women is Myra Hindley,the main accomplice in the horrendous Moors Murders which shook Britain in the 1960's.Her inmate is Gail Blackburn, a young mother who killed both of her children to escape alife of sexual and domestic abuse. The play recalls their conversations as they await theverdict of their appeals.

DECADENCERosa Peck playing the role of Helen in Stephen Berkoff’s Decadence. Helen describes hersensual adventures whilst on a fox hunt, going into detail over the feelings and emotionsthe chase conjures within her.

CHAPEL STREETHe’s been let down belittled and ignored- but tonight none of that matters. It’s Friday andJoe is getting smashed. Kirsty is bored and doesn’t care who she ends up in a taxi with aslong as she ends the night with someone. She has bought a bottle of vodka and is goingout with the girls. Bottles are drained, conversations are exchanged. As the sun sets thetwo hit the town, neither aware that soon their lives will irreconcilably collide. ChapelStreet is a rowdy, ruthless two-hander about modern life and love on the dole. It is a cuttingyet compassionate portrait of good times gone bad for a deceived generation.

THE PILLOWMANJoseph Grimes playing the role of Tupolski. The Pillowman is based around the interrogationof Katurian concerning his short stories and their similarity to a collection of murders thatoccurred in the same town. Detective Tupolski is the policeman in charge of theinterrogation and he goes to extreme lengths in attempt to receive a confession from thesuspect

EASTTommy Tancock playing the role of Lez in Stephen Berkoff’s East. East is a 1975 verse playby Steven Berkoff, dealing with growing up and rites of passage in London's rough EastEnd. It’s two central characters (Mike & Les) are a couple of razor happy randy tearawaysof almost total moral repellence and absolute physical charm, their journey is chronicledas they navigate the urban jungle and thrive in the bliss of their cut- throat environment.

STOCKHOLMEkaterina Parrish playing the role of Kali and Oscar Copper playing the role of Todd inBryony Lavery’s Stockholm; a misfit couple trapped within their repetitive relationship.Both Todd and Kali disassociate themselves from their identity (Todd from his upper-classheritage and Kali from her past insecurity) and use each other and their future plans totravel to Stockholm as a form of escapism. However Kali's emotional imbalance is reignitedwhen she finds a suspicious answer-message from another woman on Todd's phone. Thecouple lock into a violent, mental and physical battle of power resulting in theiroverwhelming attempts for reassurance of their love, questioning who the real antagonistin this relationship is.

Thank you very much for those who came and supported the evening. We hope to see you on the 11�� of May towatch Section A of the exam. Where we will be performing a variety of short plays, described below.

AS plays

An exciting evening for both staff and pupils and we welcome you to attend. The students have been workinghard to create three performances of a very high standard directed by Natalie Maher where they will be examinedon their acting ability these are to be shown on the 11�� May

TWO, Jim CartwrightThe play "Two" takes place in a pub which we have chosen to set in London. The pub is owned by a bickeringhusband and wife who are essentially the main characters of the play. The play in its entirety has fourteencharacters in played by just "Two" actors.

However, in my interpretation I have FOUR actors playing half of these characters in a shortened version of the

play. The play is about a night in the pub, the different customers and the fragile relationship between the Landlordand Landlady. Throughout the play the audience is highly involved, and witnesses a range of different characterswhich change the pace of the play to a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. The entire play is set up for the endingin which the Landlord and Landlady reveal their dark unspoken tragedy. The play is centered on the couple'srelationship.

The Landlord and Landlady open the play taking orders from the patrons and serving them. Throughout theseorders the audience gets to see the sub-text underlining the couple's relationship. Switching from bawdy humourto heart wrenching tragedy in the change of a jacket or a ruffle of the hair, my four actors plunge in and out oftheir various lives, inhabiting each one completely before morphing into the next. My actors are Arianna Rossi,Esther Roberts, Robert Angus Learmonth and Ronnie Healey.

My interpretation is set in London in the late 1980s offering a seriously entertaining look at the misery and highjinks of average people in Jim Cartwright’s public house. There are usually only ever two members of the cast onstage at once to give them more scope for characterisation, movement and communication with the audienceand to build on their experiences and learning from Unit 1. Minimal props and staging requires much skill frommy actors to communicate with their audience.

This is a richly woven play which is engaging, hilarious, heart-achingly sad and above all, honest. The audience isallowed to catch snapshots of this community through these self-contained nuggets of life. Sometimes humorous,sometimes poignant, yet always incredibly human, each character or couple acts like a fragment of shatteredglass reflecting back at us as the play mines the depths of the human experience. (Natalie Maher)

ROAD, Jim CartwrightRoad is the first play written by Jim Cartwright, and was first produced in 1986. The play explores the lives ofthe people in a deprived, working class area of Lancashire during the government of Margaret Thatcher, atime of high unemployment in the north of England. Despite its explicit nature, it was considered extremelyeffective in portraying the desperation of people's lives at this time, as well as containing a great deal of humour.Under the guidance of our narrator Scullery, the audience is taken on an evening’s tour of a road in contemporaryBritain. Moving from street corner to living room, from bedroom to kitchen, the inhabitants, young andmiddle-aged are presented, showing their socially and emotionally wretched lives in this sharp and often funnyplay.  The original production in 1986 captured with bawdy and sometimes obscene precision shows what it waslike to be a living reject in an industrial town ravaged by the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher.

In a non-linear fashion, Cartwright starts a story, finishes it or doesn’t, has characters crash in on other character’sstories and shows humanity as most people never wish to see it.  The audience always remains part of the action.

This could be any town, any place, anywhere. So our interpretation of the play "ROAD" we have chosen to set inLondon in 1986. The play in its entirety has 17 main characters. However, in my interpretation I have FIVE actorsplaying half of these characters in a shortened version of the play. Road is a tale of lost souls, repressed dreamsand the desire to escape and provides us with an exciting and challenging presentation of Britain.

Throughout the play the audience is highly involved and witnesses a range of different characters which changethe pace of the play into a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. My five actors plunge in and out of their variouslives, morphing from one character to the next with the change of a jacket or a ruffle of the hair. My actors:Tommy Tancock, Isabel Peck, Ekaterina Parrish, Leila Seibatti and Shem Jacobs.

My interpretation is set in London in the late 1980s offering an exploration of the misery and high jinks of average

people on this road. There is multi-role play which gives my cast more scope for characterisation, movement andcommunication with the audience and to build on their experiences and learning from Unit 1.

Minimal props and staging requires much skill from my actors to communicate with their audience.

Like TWO, this is a richly woven play which is engaging, heart-achingly sad and above all, honest. The audienceis allowed to catch snapshots of this community through these self-contained nuggets of life. Sometimeshumorous, sometimes poignant, yet always incredibly human, each character or couple acts like a fragment ofshattered glass reflecting back at us as the play mines the depths of the human experience. (Natalie Maher)

AGAMEMNON, BerkoffBerkoff’s Agamemnon makes a very good job of updating and contextualising the Aeschylus play on which it isbased so that a modern audience can understand the implications of the storyline. As well as the play's Aeschyleancore, in which Agamemnon returns home from Troy to be butchered by his traitorous wife, the text expands andenacts events which surround and inform the story. The fall of Troy, and the roots of the curse of Atreus thatplagues Agamemnon's family were intimately known by the original audience – obvious not the case today – sothese expansions are entirely appropriate. It also allows the script to unobtrusively hijack some of the bestmoments from other plays such as Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis and Seneca's Thyestes, adding to the play'sdramatic punch.

Visual, Aural and Spatial ElementsIn our production the action is played out by a fluid ensemble, from which protagonists melt in and out as needed.This gives them more scope for characterisation, movement and communication with the audience and to buildon their experiences and learning from Unit 1. The actors form the necessary backdrops and extras; a ship andsail, diners at a feast and warriors at Troy with lighting states that help to consistently nail the tone and registerof each section. Minimal props and staging requires much skill from my actors to communicate with their audience.The use of choral speaking, physical theatre and soundscape combined with Bekoff’s theatrical style aim to engagethe audience in the telling of an ancient story.

My actors are: Emily Barker, Georgia Bell, Oscar Copper, Joseph Grimes, Amy McKeown, Rosa Peck and MatthewPort.

GCSE Performances

An evening of four performances all directed by the students themselves. This unit has required the students touse everything they have learnt over the past three years and incorporate into a performance. They have had toadapt the plays to ensure they meet the timeframe and of course are suitable for an all-male cast. The boys willbe performing on the 29�� of April from 5.30 and we look forward to seeing many of you there. Below you willfind a synospsis and more information on what the boys have chosen for their exam piece.

BurnoutThe build up to a major fight and all the boxers want in however, the main event here is not the story, in whichAjay overreaches himself, Neil's future is snatched away and Cameron makes it into the ring, because to be honestit's a pretty familiar one. It's the way this story is told – some astonishingly choreographed training sequencesand their use of physical theatre is what makes it so compelling. They should be able to turn something aggressiveand male into something beautiful and painfully tender as they trace the exquisite thrill and exquisite pain thatoccurs when you push your body and reach out for the stars. An exploration of what makes boxers box and whathappens when a shooting star shimmers, shines brightly and falls to earth.

MojoSet entirely within the seedy Atlantic club, Silver Johnny - a young and talented performer on the road to fameand fortune - is held back by his jealous and protective manager Ezra, owner of the nightclub and father to apsychotic unloved son, Baby. As Silver Johnny progresses up the ladder to stardom, local gangster/entrepreneurSam Ross begins to take an interest, and the only way to remove opposition (Ezra) appears to be sawing him inhalf, kidnapping Silver Johnny and leaving the club's fate in a state of limbo. Ezra is discovered the next morningby his second-in-command, the highly ambitious Mickey, who announces that Ross intends to take over theAtlantic Club, setting the stage for a major power struggle. Terrified by the potential threat of extermination byRoss and his gang, associates of the now deceased Ezra, begin to lose their nerve, and try to convince themselvesit's Mickey's idea of a joke! When this turns out to be false, the Atlantic Club gang prepare for what could be theirfinal night. With just an ancient cutlass and an old Derringer as defence, the group starts to argue amongstthemselves and even considers joining Ross, or simply leaving.

In the climax to the fast-paced story, Sweets checks downstairs to see if the coast is clear for the gang to have alittle space, rather than being cooped up in a single room, and finds Silver Johnny hanging from the ceiling. Insheer panic, Sweets calls for help, and is joined by the others. Baby reveals that by saving Silver Johnny he killedMr Ross and discovered that Micky had betrayed them all for a share in the business. Skinny arrives and insultsBaby, who responds by shooting him in the head with the Derringer. Mickey, Potts and Sweets attempt to coverthe wound and to calm Skinny down, while Baby wanders around aimlessly. Silver Johnny is lowered to the floorand Skinny dies. Unable to save Skinny's life, Mickey's authority and status break down, and he kneels beside hisfriend's body.

The PillowmanThe Pillowman is a 2003 play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an earlyversion at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995. It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a policestate who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number ofbizarre child murders occurring in his town.

Katurian, a writer of short stories which often depict violence against children, has been arrested by twodetectives, Ariel and Tupolski, because some of his stories resemble recent child murders. When he hears thathis brother Michal has confessed to the murders and implicated Katurian, he resigns himself to his execution butattempts to save his stories from destruction. The play includes both narrations and reenactments of several ofKaturian's stories, most notably the autobiographical "The Writer and the Writer's Brother", which tells howKaturian developed his disturbed imagination by hearing the sounds of Michal being tortured by their parents.

Lord of the FilesA group of boys are marooned on an island after their plane crashes. With no adult survivors, they create theirown "Micro-society". Ralph is elected "Chief", and he organises shelter and fire. Jack, the head of the choir takeshis boys hunting for food (wild pigs). A bitter rivalry develops between Jack and Ralph as both want to be in charge.The "hunters" become savage and primal, under Jack's rule, while Ralph tries to keep his group civilised. Thegrowing hostility between them leads to a bloody and frightening climax.

Trips

Bouncers by John Godber at Rhodes Arts ComplexOn Thursday 26�� of February, Ms Maher and Mrs Bart-Williams took 42 GCSE drama students from Years 9 and10 to see ‘Bouncers’ at the Rhodes Art Complex. Once we were all seated, the four actors: Will Edden (Les), DanielBoulton (Lucky Eric), Joseph Vaiana (Judd) and former TBSHS student Drew Gregg (Ralph) entered the theatreauditorium. They began to amuse us before the production even began, by breaking the 4�� wall and engagingwith members of the audience. They were threatening and this caused nervous laughter from the crowd. Thefrequent cheeky gags and side-splitting scenes certainly gave us a memorable and exciting Thursday evening. Asa GCSE drama student myself, I can appreciate the difficulty of being able to maintain focus throughout aproduction, we were all given an outstanding demonstration of exactly how to do it. It was clear that a hugeamount of rehearsal and effort that had been put into this performance. We were amazed at how 4 actors couldmulti role playing about 17 different characters between them. The 2 year 10 classes are currently working onour own mini productions of Bouncers so this has been a real help and inspiration for us. To me it is no wonderthat this enthusiastic group of actors from the Phoenix Theatre School were extremely eager to embark uponperforming this multi-award winning production directed by Jeanne Stacey. Thanks to Ms Maher for organisingthis experience for us.

A2 Drama and Theatre Studies ‘Lysistrata’ Trip to Mumford Theatre,CambridgeOn 2ⁿ� March 2015, A2 Drama and Theatre students, along with Ms Maher and Mr Harris, went to see a productionof ‘Lysistrata’, performed at the Mumford Theatre in Cambridge. Originally written by Greek playwrightAristophanes and performed in 411 BC, Lysistrata is a renowned comedy about Athenian and Spartan womenwho abstain from having sex with their husbands, in the hope that they will make the opposing armies of menagree to sign a peace treaty and thus ending the war.

Seeing this production was incredibly useful for all students as they are currently studying ‘Lysistrata’ inpreparation for their Unit 4 written exam which they will have to sit this June. Furthermore, the production gavethem a more visual insight into the story, but more importantly, how this play can be performed as a modern dayproduction. In June, all students will be tested on exploring certain extracts of ‘Lysistrata’ with rehearsaltechniques. Additionally, each student will have to create their own original performance concept of ‘Lysistrata’prior to the exam, and contrast it to how the play would have been originally performed in Ancient Greek times.Overall, it was a very successful trip and hopefully, this will help students to boost their marks when they sit theUnit 4 exam in just over three months’ time.

Othello, performed by Frantic Assembly at The Lyric Theatre

On Thursday 29�� January Ms Maher and Mrs Bart-Williams took 20 A-Level students to see Frantic Assembly’sexciting and dynamic adaptation of Othello, directed by Scott Graham, at the Lyric Hammersmith in London.Frantic Assembly are famed for their evocative style of physical theatre, and for many of the students it wouldbe our first time attending one of their performances. The production was set in a Yorkshire pub against thebackdrop of the Race Riots in 2001, where racial tensions between whites, blacks and Asians reached their breakingpoint. Opening with a stylistic movement sequence that introduced the audience to the characters, the productionheld our attention from start to finish in an unrelenting mixture of physical theatre, gripping performances andan electronic, yet symphonic, soundtrack produced by British group Hybrid. The actors were truly professional

and had developed engaging interpretations of Shakespeare’s characters, especially Leila Crerar’s Emilia and RyanFletcher’s Cassio, whom we felt the most emotional connection to.  As A2 students studying and comparing acontemporary adaptation of a play against its original performance conditions, the second run of this awardwinning production has given us plenty to discuss and revise in preparation for our exam in the summer. Wewould all like to thank Ms Maher and Mrs Bart-Williams for organising this trip for us. Alex Stevens

Upcoming Drama Productions

GCSE Production Examination Performance

Evening of 4 PlaysWednesday 29th April 5.30pm for a 6pm start.

6th Form Production Examination Performance

Evening of 3 PlaysMonday 11th May 5.30pm

Please do not hesitate to contact the drama department for further information

hayley.bartwilliams@tbshs.org

natalie.maher@tbshs.org

Film Studies Department

Visit by actor and filmmaker James Warren

At the end of February, the Film Studies department was pleased to welcome actor and filmmaker James Warrento the School to speak to AS and A2 students.

James Warren was an actor in Guy Ritchie’s film ‘Snatch’, a crime film which AS students are studying. In the film,James played one of the men in the traveller community that Brad Pitt’s character Mickey belonged to. For James,this acting job involved fighting, using a shotgun and generally looking intimidating to the main character Turkish(played by Jason Statham) and his associate Tommy (Stephen Graham).

Discussing his work with the students, James was able to discuss what it is like working on a film set, and to explainhow Guy Ritchie casts and directs his actors. He also told the group what it was like to work with Brad Pitt (inshort: a great experience). Moving from the glamour of A list actors, James mentioned the difficult parts of thejob, giving a realistic account of the acting profession. This included long hours on film sets and what it is reallylike to be an actor in a McDonald’s commercial. Linking in to practical film work, he offered valuable advice forthe students’ filmmaking coursework.

The department are very grateful for James’ insight into the profession several students in the department haveas their chosen career.

Miss Suzanne Morris

Subject Leader for Film Studies, English

Music

Exam SuccessCongratulations to Freddie & Louis Hannam who have both achieved music exam success in their Clarinet Grade3 exams.  Freddie passed with a Distinction and Louis achieved a Merit – tremendous for Year 7 students. Welldone Freddie & Louis.

My Day at Ronnie Scott’s - Eli Haines

Two weeks ago I had a brilliant day at the world-famous Jazz club, Ronnie Scott’s, in the West End of London.

Mr Johnson had forwarded me a link for an outreach event, run by Ronnie Scott’s called Big Band in a Day.

I applied, giving a potted history of my experience and naming my favourite piece of Jazz music, ('If I Only Had aBrain' by Carl Fontana), and was lucky to be offered a place at the end of March.

So on a cold Sunday morning I found myself travelling on the London Underground with my trombone, a bag ofmutes and other essentials, a change of performance clothes and a backpack.

When we arrived, our parents sat in on our first hour of rehearsal and were more excited than the students.

Students had come from all over the home-counties and as far away as Portsmouth and there was one boy fromDoncaster.

We had a one hour rehearsal before breaking for lunch including being assigned positions in the band (I was luckyenough to play lead Trombone) and everyone getting into the feel of things by doing an improvisation solo.

During the second session, we rehearsed for a further 3 hours before being free to have a walk around Soho andChinatown.

After being fed pasta and cake, we were allowed into the club itself to watch the rehearsal of the main bandplaying that evening.

At 6.30 it was time to get changed and ready and the doors of the club opened. Ronnie Scott’s normal businesshours are 6.30 – 1 am so at 6.30 pm the large queue of members of the paying public who had purchased ticketsstarted arriving.

At 7pm we came on stage which was very exciting and a bit nerve wracking, but luckily the parents in the audiencewere very vocal in their support, which was great.

We played our set and each did a solo improvisation which was really rewarding.

After our set, we swapped names and facebook details and then had to leave. As it was a Sunday evening and Ihad school the next day, I was not able to stay until 1 am and see the main show, but I will definitely rememberthe experience for ever and hope to go back for the full evening in the Summer.

It was a wonderful experience and I recommend it to anyone, as long as they are comfortable with doing a soloimprovisation.

BiologyOn Thursday three classes of anxious A2 biology students entered the Biology workshop in Mr Smiths room.Nerves were high as the only details any students read from the letter prior to the workshop was the fact it wascompulsory and that we were off timetable for two days-huzzah.

The first day of the workshop was tense as before the equipment was brought out we were told it was highlyexpensive, when the equipment was brought out we were reminded it was highly expensive and during usage ofthe equipment we were also reminded the equipment was highly expensive. Due to this pressure my groupdecided not to let Dan “accident prone” Williams near the equipment.

This expensive equipment we was using was a PCR machine. A PCR machine carries out a process known as aPolymerase chain reaction which is artificial DNA replication. At this point the workshop was sold for me as Ibelieved I was living my dream and was able to clone myself, but no this was not the case. Later on during theday we learnt the applications of PCR, one application being the use of PCR in forensic investigations, wheresamples of DNA taken from crime scenes can be amplified in order to generate enough material for geneticprofiling. The day was readily approaching the end as our samples had to be stored overnight for the next day,but just as spirits were depleting during the workshop Mrs Wilson appeared in the room with the smile on herface that gave us students an inkling that we would be doing something that she would find amusing but wewould not enjoy, this is usually coursework. We were all wrong. Mr Smith handed us all sheets of paper titled“The PCR song” and proceeded to show us a video of scientist singing this PCR song and we were told we weregoing to sing the song and record it for the company that sponsors the workshop called AMGEN. The song wassung and egos were broken and this wrapped up the end of the first day of the workshop.

The second day of the workshop started with the groups receiving their tubes they had stored overnight. At thispoint my partners Owen Mitchell and Omar Sawafta thought it would be a good time to come clean that theyleft out the crucial component that would make the experiment work, this was also the point I tried to changegroup. Whilst students were waiting for their tubes to warm in the water bath, we were set a booklet of questionsto make our way through. These questions proved extremely difficult on first glance as they were not past paperquestions, thus no mark schemes; but when we actually did a strange activity called using our brains and appliedour knowledge from the previous day the work was straightforward. On this second day we learnt about restrictionenzymes and their use. Restriction enzymes are used to cut through DNA at specific points and how along withligase, restriction enzymes can insert a gene into a plasmid. When it was time to collect our results from the twodays everyone was pleased they had the result that the booklet described they should get. I say everyone witha pinch of salt, more like 40% of the class due to how complex the step by step process was. Whilst my groupwent up to collect our futile results I counted the amount of minutes they wasted of my life by accidentally ruiningour experiment we did over the past two days-4880 minutes in total. The second day of the workshop ended witha big clean up of the equipment and Mr Smith giving us many useful past paper questions of the content wecovered over the two days.

Overall the two day workshop was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting experience, as the equipment is onlyavailable for four schools a year in the country. Not only did none of us students by serendipity produce a newdeadly virus, we also covered a large amount of specification on our course whilst honing our singing skills.

Business

Dragons apprentice challenge 23�� March 2015It feels like years since we went to Hertford Regional College in Broxbourne for the briefing launch session inOctober 2014. The mini bus contained only the students from the team that would eventually win the competitionthe “ Y flyers.” They kindly represented their own team plus the other two teams who had failed to get a consentletter in on time to travel with me. Not a great start. Soon after the three teams formed one fell apart as at firstone leader then another resigned from the role as being “too challenging.” Such resignations are always a worryespecially when a charity is relying on the students like they are.

Happily the Y flyers led by Cassie Seymour and Team Impact led by David Harris have stayed the course andpioneered this new social enterprise project. Their success at this evening’s regional competition is a reflectionof their hard work, team work, links with their charity, report quality and presentations. Their mentors (ClaireCallaghan from Stansted Airport and Liza Armstrong from Wenta) were very pleased for the two teams. Theircharity representatives (Councillor Norma Symonds who works with the Bishops Stortford Food Bank and KatePalmer from the Bishops Stortford YMCA) were also very happy. Norma treated the boys to dinner at the localMcDonalds on the way home.

There were 50 schools participating in Hertfordshire with the challenge to turn £100 in September into E1000 bythe end of January. In this region (Broxbourne and East Herts) last year 8 teams from 6 schools took part with 30business dragons raising £10000 for local charity. This year 15 teams from 7 schools including 110 year 12apprentices working with 25 dragons and 16 beneficiary groups raised £15,000.

Six teams had been invited to present their experience to the super dragons including five experienced businessexperts. The competition was strong with one team turning their £100 into £2700! I had wrongly assumed theywere the winners. The judges were looking for more than money making ability. They awarded Team Impact withthe best connection with a charity. The boys were surprised but I thought their relationship with Norma wasspecial. They had started off displaying a little immaturity when they first met her creating a pretty bad impression.Happily over time that relationship changed to one of mutual respect which is not as simple as it sounds. Themeal at McDonald’s was a lovely way to commemorate that relationship. The ladies who had called themselvesthe Y flyers combining the airport function with the Y in YMCA were the overall competition winners. The key tothis was their realisation that it was not the money that mattered but the people and the charity they were tryingto help. When they visited the local YMCA their efforts were clearly explained. A thousand pounds would formthe basis for raising more money for other sources to pay for a part time trainer who could increase the confidenceand job seeking capacity of the young people the YMCA are focused on helping lead independent successful liveshaving faced challenging or difficult personal circumstances without family support or interest. The Y-flyers wonbecause they showed their teamwork and learning through the process of setting up and running a business. Iam very happy that they won and proud that so many of our sixth form have the ability to succeed in thechallenging world of business.

A big thank you to the mentors and charities for their inspiration:

http://www.wenta.co.uk/ (Liza Armstrong Impact mentor)

http://www.bishopsstortford.org/handy-local-information (Food bank information)

http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Stortford-Food-Bank-helps-600-people-year/story-21877869-detail/story.html

http://housing.ymca.org.uk/housing-schemes/profiles-of-schemes/east-herts-ymca (Kate Palmer)

http://www.magworld.co.uk/magweb.nsf (Claire Callaghan, Y-flyers mentor)

Team Impact Y-flyers

David Harris Hollie Baker

Kentaro Green Cassie Seymour

Ronnie Healey Sophie Grubb

Frank Carvalho Elisha Jessey

Hiren Mistry Katie Bennett

Matthew Munro Louise Campbell

Charlie-Luke O'Connor Hannah Mehew

Oliver Rhoda Molly Snow

Anna Diamond

Team Impact

Y-Fliers

F. Beran

Tenner Programme 2014-5Following last year's inaugural participation in the Young Enterprise charity's Tenner project in association withMr Etheridge's Year 9 Citizenship programme the boys did it again this year. The top project choice involvedbuying sweets and repackaging them for student consumption. The fizzy drink market was also fully penetrated.Too much sugar and not enough exercise. My magic memory is William Ray carrying in to school (accompaniedby his Dad) a huge wooden set of stocks. William's idea was to charge boys to shoot a football through the holein 30 seconds. Boys and football. Another winning combination. A big thank you to parents for their support asever and to the boys who made the effort to convert a tenner into something more for charity. Charities rangedfrom Cancer Research to Oxfam. Thank you also must go to the Finance team for keeping track of who got howmuch money from the start up capital Young Enterprise provided us with and helped me track down those whohad delayed repaying the money with a donation towards helping it run in the future. A great social enterpriseproject long may it thrive here.

Mr Beran

Mathematics

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, February 2015

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge took place on Thursday 5�� February 2015. Sixty students participated:33 from Year 11 and 27 from Year 10.

5 students won a Gold certificate, 14 Silver and 23 Bronze. These students will receive their certificates early nextterm.

Oliver Hougham from Year 11 scored 72 marks and is therefore the Best inSchool and the Best in his Year.

Anirudh Suresh, Charlie Doyle, Henry Stuart-Turner and Jamie Rushworth fromYear 11 won Gold certificates.

Lloyd Martin from Year 10 scored 63 marks and is the Best in his Year.

Oliver Hougham was automatically qualified for the European KangarooMathematical Challenge which took place on Thursday 19�� March 2015. Theresults will be known by early May.

Well done to all the participants!

Happy Easter.

Ben Appasamy (Maths Department)

Here are two questions from the Intermediate challenge for the Easter break.

1. A voucher code is made up of four characters. The first is a letter: V, X or P. The second andthird are different digits. The fourth is the unit’s digit of the sum of the second and third digits.How many different voucher codes like this are there?

A 180 B 243 C 270 D 300 E 2700

2. The total weight of a box, 20 plates and 30 cups is 4.8 kg. The total weight of the box, 40plates and 50 cups is 8.4 kg. What is the total weight of the box, 10 plates and 20 cups?

A 3 kg B 3.2 kg C 3.6 kg D 4 kg E 4.2 kg

Citizenship and Religious StudiesSome words from Jonathan Whitmore in Year 13:

Back in 1908, a story about community, friendship and wisdom, captured the hearts and minds of people andstill does even to this day.

“The Mole had been spring cleaning his home, first with brooms, then dusters, then on ladders, with a brush andpail of whitewash. Spring was moving in the air above, it was small wonder then he flung down his brush andsaid "oh bother" "oh blow" and even "hang spring cleaning". He bolted out of his dark, lowly, little house, withoutputting on his coat. So he went up the steep tunnel. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged,not knowing what awaited him. Till at last, his snout came out into the sunlight. He found himself rolling in thewarm grass of a great meadow. Hither and thither he rambled busily along, seeing birds building, flowers budding,everything progressive and occupied. He suddenly found himself by a sparking full-fed river. All was a-shake anda-shiver— glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched,entranced, fascinated. Then, out of nowhere: "Hello Mole". It was the water rat. “Hello Rat" said the Mole. "Docome over". He was not used to a river and its ways. The Rat unfastened a boat. “Step, lively." The rat hadstaggered out with a fat wicker, luncheon basket. "I've never been in a boat before.” “Never been in a— younever— well I— what have you been doing, All your life? It's the only thing.. There is nothing— absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boat. All the times we had together, it's always got its funand excitements.” With a sigh of full of contentment, he leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. After along day picnicking the mole retired to a warm bed, by a toasty fireside, not knowing what awaited him in thefuture.”

The Mole had found friends in Ratty, Badger and the eccentric Mr Toad of Toad Hall. Spring is a time for newstarts. Like the Mole, we must all venture out into the wide world. But, as time passes, never forget your roots.As students come and go, they never forget the dedication, companionship and influence they experienced atThe Bishop’s Stortford High School. You all will forever remain a part of this great school, the legacy goes on. Andas for Mole, he was happy, knowing that his new-found friend the River was lapping the sill of his window.

In this extract and commentary, Jonathan Whitmore encapsulates our School Ethos of compassion,

companionship and challenge. The author has symbolised this in his own work and witness here. A classic casestudy of this Black and Gold spirit has been in Interact and with Showcase this year. I am truly grateful to all thestudents who have contributed so wonderfully to this area. Callum Perry and Bradley Gilbey’s astonishingleadership of Interact raised over £15,000 (thank you to Treasurer Matthew Houston Oakley). Bradley and Callumare leaders of integrity, vision and drive. We are so grateful to every parent and student for their contributionshere. Robin Franklin, Charlie Jonas and Amy Liddell delivered the best ever Showcase. The audiences were asinspiring as the acts but these three people were superb. In particular, Charlie Jonas’ contribution on technicalrequirements has illuminated our School for many years whilst Robin is an equally remarkable talent. “Teachingteacheth the teacher”. I have learnt so much from the students of TBSHS. They are wonderful people. The supportof their wonderful homes is the foundation for their success.

It is also spirit which have seen in evidence this academic year in the area of Citizenship and Religious Studies.Visits to Wimbledon and Westminster in the Autumn was truly inspiring and the students were a paradigm ofexcellence.

The future is as bright as the present. The Lower School Academy demonstrate such great promise and verve.From their creative and thoughtful Homework, to their leadership of Awareness Days, Christmas and EasterServices and participation in class, Year 7 and Year 8 students have demonstrated a fair for the big questions ofreligion, theology, ethics and citizenship. The work which students have produced is truly humbling.

Exam classes show great promise. We are entering a vital stage of the season. Can we find that extra gear? GCSEstudents are progressing soundly through their courses in Christian and Islam Ethics. The key here is followingcurrent affairs and grasping the complexity of the ethical issues under consideration (crime, war, poverty,environment, relationships, medical ethics). Students should then use their knowledge, understanding andevaluation of Christianity and Islam to respond to these issues. At Advanced Level, students are cementing theirknowledge, understanding and evaluation of key philosophers and theologians as well as Islamic beliefs andpractices. Essay – writing is an art, of course. Focus on the question is as significant as structured paragraphingwhich utilises knowledge, understanding and evaluation of the topics to essay an answer. Past paper planningpractice, as mind maps and cue cards should be visible this Easter for Years 11-13. I advise an early start and thesetting of daily goals. Revision sessions should be in twenty minute bursts. The key is repetition and testing toensure long term memory is accessed. I will be available on e-mail throughout the holiday and will send podcaststo assist with revision on the move for the mobile telephone generation. Revision resources are available onBradley Gilbey’s website http://theteamrs.weebly.com/. This is an excellent article on revisionhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/11496241/Revision-How-sport-science-can-improve-exam-results.html

I am always seeking ideas on how our work can be further enhanced. If students or parents have a topic areathey would like to explore in Citizenship of Religious Studies or if parents wish to suggest an idea or speaker(showing exceptional initiative, one Sixth Form student, Amie Bruce, organised the brilliant internationalcampaigner Laura Bates to visit us), then please e-mail me. Next term we will be linking some lessons to theGeneral Election on May 7�� and will hold a School Election on that date also. We will also be exploring thewonderful event that is Caz Fest in Citizenship classes.

Thank you to Mr. Reeve, Mr. Griffiths, Ms. Epton, Mr Solomons, Ms Woods and every Citizenship teacher for theircontinued good will, understanding, inspiration, encouragement and advice.

Thank you for your continued support

Have a wonderful Easter

Simon Etheridge

BTEC SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY TRIP

POLAND, KRAKOW AND AUSCHWITZHaving arrived fresh faced, having met at Stansted Airport at 6am, Midday Polish time for the short 25 minutetrip to the hotel, within 15 minutes of being there the students were out for the start of an epic 5 hour walkingtour of the city lead by Mr Neesam. Numerous former synagogues and important Jewish building were highlighted,as well as locations that were used to film Schindler’s List, including the famous stairs where Danke Dresner washidden by the young boy during the clearing of the ghetto.

Of course the students were hungry (As they would be every hour of every day according to them). A short stopwas authorised at in the centre of Kazimierz (The former Jewish quarter of Krakow). Here the students couldconsume traditional Polish cuisine, a Zapiekanki, which is like a long pizza slice with whatever toppings you wouldlike.

The walk continued into the city centre along the Vistula River and past the imposing Wawel Castle and its firebreathing dragon, which astonished the students. We had a brief sit down in the market square before takingthe long walk back to the hotel. This most certainly had set the tone to the students that not only will the trip hitthem emotionally but also with the amount of walking they would be physically drained.

Day 2 began with an introduction to what we were there to experience, The Oskar Schindler Factory site museum.Not only does it tell the story of Oskar Schindler and his famous list but also of Krakow during the war and gaveglimpses of what other things we could see for ourselves later in the trip. The museum provided and excellentintroduction to what we could expect.

Again Mr Neesam walking at his usual fast pace took us straight off to Remembrance Square, the location whereJews of the ghetto were selected for deportation to Auschwitz or other concentration camps. Many hundreds ofthousands that had stood on the square had gone to their deaths 50 miles to the west. This close encounter witha place of selection was followed by a humbling and mindful talk by an Auschwitz survivor.

Lidia Maksymowicz – Taken to Auschwitz at the age of 4 in 1943 from Belarus with her mother and grandparents.Her grandparents were sent straight to the gas chambers, whilst her and her mother were selected for survival.Lydia was taken to the children’s barracks where she became one of Dr Mengele’s guinea pigs. Medicalexperiments were conducted on her throughout her time in the camp until its liberation in January 1945. Shewas adopted by a Polish couple and despite her mother surviving the horrors of the camp and a death march sheonly saw her mother once after the war and chose to remain with adoptive parents.

With so much horror ringing in our ears from what we had heard we were glad to be able to go ice skating andshopping that evening to liven the mood and raise our spirits.

Thursday morning came and leaving the hotel at 6.30am was a struggle. We reached Auschwitz at 8am in thebleak foggy cold which just added to the whole feeling of death that pervaded the place. We saw the remains ofbarracks, the conditions that the prisoners had to endure and the death block, where hundreds of prisoners weretaken to this prison inside a prison. The feeling of seeing the cells where hundreds had died and been torturedcannot be adequately described, this followed by walking through the only gas chamber to have survived withfurnaces. Just being in a room where thousands had been innocently murdered was sickening and really broughtit all to mind.

Birkenau was vast and we were here for hours walking amongst the ruins of the largest extermination andconcentration camp facility in the whole of the Third Reich. To say the sense of death destruction permeated thewhole place is an understatement. The vast scale was hard to comprehend and the far reaches of the camp werebarely visible from the central guard tower at the entrance of the camp. Mr Neesam pointed out areas of thecamp that we did not even know existed and showed us where the NAZIS were even extending the camp in late1944.

On the way back to Krakow it was hard not to dwell on what we had just seen and think about the experiencesthat people must have had arriving at that place. To say we were sombre was an understatement. Luckily thatevening we were going to Poland’s largest indoor water park for 3 hours, to let us burn off some energy (not thatwe had much left due to all the walking) and to liven the mood and our spirits. The water park was amazing and

definitely kept us entertained for the whole evening.

Friday came and we spent the morning shopping for gifts and picking up cheap clothing, most of the boys boughtnew shoes/trainers, including Mr Neesam. We then departed for the airport and the flight home. Absolutelyshattered we arrived back in the UK, but we had certainly learnt and experienced a lot and it is an experiencethat we will never forget.

Thank you to Mr Neesam for organising the trip and thanks to Mrs Matthews for her support and help in organisingthe trip and to Mrs Gilmour for assisting and coming along on the trip. A special thanks must go to Mrs Kitchingfor working behind the scenes on the organisation and having most of it prepared.

Mr Neesam

PsychologyTen year 12 Psychology students from TBSHS went on an afternoon trip to Amwell View special school to learnmore about autism and the behaviours associated with the condition. The enthusiastic head teacher showed usaround various classrooms where we were able to interact with the children and their teachers. A particularfavourite of the activities we were allowed to join in with was the soft play room which contained an enormousbouncy castle. Obviously we got stuck in as the children encouraged us to join their games and play with them.

The most impressive room in the school was the brand new audio visual room which contained over a millionpounds worth of sensory technology to aid the children’s development. Here the children can learn the effect oftheir movements on the environment around them – and sixth formers can learn how cool sensory rooms canbe, with the UV room and the interactive floor, we had to be dragged out of here! Photographs are on the nextpage.

Watching the children in their swimming lessons was a particularly enjoyable experience as their faces lit up atthe sound and the feeling of the water on their bodies. In the therapy pool, the weight is taken off their limbsand they can float and splash without restriction. It was lovely to see the expressions of joy on their faces as theytruly relaxed.

Our visit ended with observing a dance class for children with profoundlearning disabilities who were confined to wheelchairs. We were confusedby the idea when this was described tous but as we watched the staff whizzchildren round in circles in time to themusic the concept became clear, as didthe pure delight of the children.

Miss DeWalt

New York Trip 2015The New York trip of 2015 will be one that everybody who went would remember with Ms Parr saying that “itwas the best and the worst trip yet.”

It all started as soon as we got to the airport after school on Thursday 12th February at around 5 o’clock. All ofthe students were ready to go and were very excited until we heard the voice of Sam Ballard saying, “Miss…Where is my bag?” Unfortunately Sam’s bag was left back at the school in reception. Fortunately Sam’s mumcame to the rescue and drove all the way to Heathrow airport to give Sam his bag.

Meanwhile the rest of the group were heading through security, where Mr Solomons being one of his many extrasecurity checks. The group’s heads were high as we thought the last of the stress was behind us… how wrongwe were! We arrived at the gate to find that there was a two-hour delay, so we sat down and prepared for a longwait. Unfortunately the airline changed the gate which meant we needed to get a tram. With the adrenalinepumping we arrived at the tram and waited five minutes but still no tram so an airport officer told us to go to theother side of the station for the next tram. After another ten minutes of waiting along with fifty other people wewere starting to get anxious, our flight was leaving in around forty minutes but we were nowhere near the gate.This proved to be too much for Mrs Parr, she marched over to the communications box and demanded to knowwhat was going on, which ended in us sprinting for the gate. After a good ten-minute run we finally made it tothe gate and luckily we were just on time, we all went through on to the plane apart from Mr Solomons who gotchecked yet again.

We landed in New York late, but all of us were ready for theexciting few days ahead. We arrived to our hotel at 3.30am tiredand ready for bed.

The next day everybody woke up early and excited, which we allput down to the jet lag. We went for a walk to wake up and weneeded our warm clothes as we got our first taste of how freezingcold New York was this time of year, wind chill of -28 C.

After looking around the shops Mrs Parr realised that we hadmissed a booked tour, she puts that down to only 3 hours of sleep,but luckily managed to rearrange the visit. The New York SupremeCourt was next on our itinerary but to get there we got our firsttaste of the New York subway system. The Supreme Court wasfantastic, we received a talk about the American justice systemand Jacob Sparrow was lucky enough to pretend he was a judgein the judges chair, with people such as Marleen Avontuur, AbiNatali and Josh Lloyd getting in on the act as the stenographer,prosecutors and defendant. We were lucky to go and sit in a realmurder trial, the judge came and explained what was going on andthe American legal system. This was an amazing experience foreveryone and not one that we would not forget. After this we

attempted to go to Times Square, however Mr Solomons and a group of students, including Ed Ray and HarrisonCosti to Mr Solomons dismay, managed to get on the wrong train and ended up half way into Brooklyn. Aftermuch panicking we all made it to Times Square, which was a frenzy of lights and people. After exploring, takingmany photos and stopping off at Shake Shack, we went back to the hotel and went to bed ready for the followingday.

Day 2 - We got ready for the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and a walkingtour of Wall Street, which especially excited future Wolf of Wall Street JackFradd who became upset when he realised that the Stock Exchange wasn’tactually on Wall Street itself. As expected the ferry was colder than anythingwe have experienced before. The view of lower Manhattan was amazingfrom both Liberty Island and Ellis Island and we had the opportunity to takesome great pictures

Day 3 - We all got up early in order to go to the top of the Rockefeller Centreand see the whole of New York from the top of one of the highest buildings inthe city. Once we were up there everybody was wowed by the amazing viewof New York and the sheer size of the city that we were at. However, after afew minutes Sam Grant and Harry Grosvenor realised that there was free Wi-Fiso they went inside to enjoy it. After another few minutes the rest of us wentand joined them to check up on what we had missed and to upload our recentpicture to instagram and twitter. We also visited the iconic Grand CentralStation famous in many Hollywood films as Kitty Hawkins pointed out “Is thisthe one from Friends with Benefits?” We were all shocked at the amazingarchitecture of Grand Central Station however the highlight was the whisperingwalls, it was strange at how clearly you could hear each other from the otherside of the room. Our evening meal was at the Hard Rock Café in Times, thefood was great and everyone enjoyed it.

Day 4 was an an emotional but eye opening experience at the 9/11 Memorialand Museum, it was difficult for everyone to take in. After this we made ourway to the highly anticipated Macy’s tour, mostly because of the discount wegot at the end. After the tour the students were allowed do some shopping oftheir own and try to find some bargains lying around the massive eight-storeydepartment store. The award for the best bargain goes to Alex Rankin and JacobSparrow who managed to grab two $300 blazers for $40 each. Our eveningentertainment was to watch the Broadway production of ‘The Curious Incidentof the Dog in the Nightime’. All of the students really enjoyed the performanceand we even managed to get a picture with the leading actor at the end.

The final day had come and we were not ready to leave. We had a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank, where wegot to see the gold vaults underneath New York and learn about how the Federal Reserve system works. The UNvisit was a very interesting experience because we had to get our passports checked before entering because thebuilding itself is in International Waters so we all got a stamp in our passports to say we had been there.

On the way back Mrs Parr found out that our flight had been delayed by 24 hours… not good. We made our wayto the airport in order to try and find a way home and luckily we managed to get on to two different flights. Thefirst group managed to get upgrades to premium economy and Mrs Parr and Marleen Avontuur even got upgradedto Business Class, unfortunately for Charles Branston he was left in economy class. The second group however,consisting of Mr Solomons, Ed Ray, Jack Fradd, Patrick Loveday, Abi Natali, Alex Rankin and Jacob Sparrow, hitthe jackpot and all of them managed to get upgraded to Business. After relaxing in the business lounge the twogroups met up again only to find that the first group’s bags had been left in America, meaning that they wouldhave to go back home without them.

Thanks must go to Mrs Parr for organising the trip and not leaving us behind for all the stress we gave her. Thankmust also go to Mr Solomons for looking after us and making it an enjoyable trip.

Ski Trip 2015 – Altenmarkt, AustriaForty three students and six staff arrived in the resort of Altenmarkt in the Austrian Alps on Saturday 14�� February.We were greeted with blue sky and plenty of snow. Being British, we decided that an hour or two should be spentsliding down slopes on plastic sledges. After that we ‘relaxed’ in the swimming pool of our hotel – Youth SportHotel Ennstalerhof - http://www.ennstalerhof.com/ We sorted out our skis, boots and helmets so we wereready for the first of six days of skiing on Sunday.

The first day of skiing is always a challenge. The complete beginners had to get used to the snowplough position.Referring to it as a ‘pizza’ sounds quite nice, but being in this position for five hours is tough even for the fittestof people. Mr Withyman, who was supervising the beginners, was up to the task though. The skiers who hadskied for at least a week before this trip, whizzed away with their Austrian instructors. We skied for three hoursin the morning and then enjoyed an hour in the sun eating typical Austrian food, such as goulash soup ortirolergröstl. With their legs tiring the students took the foot off the gas in the two hours of skiing in the afternoon.This routine was to be repeated for another five days. Thirty hours of exercise is one week is tough-going, butwhen one is sliding down snowy mountains enjoying wonderful views in the sunshine then it is easier to keepgoing! To keep introducing fresh experiences for the students, we skied in four resorts over the six days –Altenmarkt; Flachauwinkl, Zauchensee and Flachau - http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter In the latter tworesorts some students were able to ski on the steep and fast World Cup ski runs. This made us realise that thetop downhill skiers must be a little crazy!

In the evenings we took part in activities such as swimming at the hotel; bingo; a quiz evening; ice skating andthe Lucky Flitzer alpine toboggan - http://www.lucky-flitzer.at/ On the last night at the hotel we enjoyed afancy dress evening during which prizes were made to students ranging from Best fancy dress (Jamie Wilkins) toSkier of the week (Jack Hewlett).

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing 20 students learn a new skill and the rest of the students improve their skiing due togood teaching and a positive attitude. Thank you to Mr Wheatley, Mr Withyman, Mr Osborne, Mr Crimes andMrs Griffiths for being great company and helping the students to have a really enjoyable week.

In 2016 I will be leading the ski trip to Ravascletto, Italy. The trip (for current Year 7 and 8 students) is full. I willbe advertising the 2017 trip (for current Year 9 to 11 students) in September of this year.

Head of House Reports

Chantry Spring 2015

The students of Chantry have continued to participate in all the house activities with enthusiasm and dedicationin this past term. We have had Football, Music and Drama all of which we have had exceptional participationand enthusiasm - overall Chantry came second for the music festival with all our students showing exceptionaltalent and dedication to their chosen discipline.

Jack Tulloch and Shem Jacobs,are to be praised for getting thedrama production prepared.The two of them were able towrite a brilliant and thoughtfulpiece based on the Cherubim atthe base of the SistineMadonna. Shem won the BestDirector prize and the twoCherubs; Max Hadley, TomWoods, were commended foran outstanding actingperformance. It was awonderful event and hugethanks have to go to all thoseinvolved on stage and to CharlieJonas who worked wonderswith the sound and lighting.

Our sporting skills were once again put to thetest at the inter-house football event. Whilstour students bravely challenged those in theother houses on that bitterly cold, yet sunny,are efforts were rewarded by coming in sixth –a record low score of 22 points for the day – adownward drop from the first place weachieved in inter-house rugby. True grit wasdemonstrated by all that played and we weredelighted to see students who were not fitenough to play come along and support theircolleagues – though we may have scored thelowest points of the day but we had one of thehighest turnouts of which I am very proud.

A large thank you goes out to all Chantry students for their continued participation, hard work and effort overthe year so far and into the future. Special thanks go to Oliver Hougham (House Captain) and Jack Tulloch (HousePresident), and all our house deputies both in year 10 and year 11 who have given up their time and effort toprepare for events and organise teams. They have maintained house morale and have demonstrated leadershipand organisational skills to the younger members of our house.

The House looks forward to the summer term and the house events that are to take place.

Mr Berry

Head of Chantry

Rhodes House Report

It has been a busy term for the students in Rhodes House, having taken part in many House Competitionsincluding:, the Music Festival, House Drama and House Football.

As always, it has been wonderful to see so many students involved in these competitions, working together inteams and showcasing their talents. The Music Festival saw 15 students from Rhodes battle it out for variousMusician of the Year titles, with Alex Stevens (Rhodes) winning the title of Intermediate Winner 2015. There werelots of fantastic performances during this two week period and I look forward to seeing even more of Rhodeshouse participate in this event next year, and maybe even winning the House Cup!

House Drama saw a range of performances, some funny, some moving and some exceptionally dramatic (RhodesHouse!). The Rhodes cast did a fantastic job of interpreting Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ painting, narrating the tragiclife of a young boy (Van Gogh). As the plot unfolded it became clear how Van Gogh’s inspiration for his paintingcame to be, but, I don’t think anyone would have been able to predict the tragic an emotional end to thisperformance. Although Dane stole the winning title, Rhodes House did a fantastic job, with Jack Barkercommended for outstanding acting performance in the competition.

The sun was shining for House Football and the turn out from Rhodes House was strong. The boys got stuck inand played well, an enjoyable day all round.

I look forward to seeing Rhodes House play in House Cricket come the summer term – we’ve got a bit of work todo to win the cup this year, but maybe Cricket will be our game??!

Mrs Tomkins

Twyford HouseThe spring term has been a busy one in terms of house events. This has included the annual Music Festival, HouseDrama, House Football and the House Debating competition.

Music FestivalCongratulations to all students who took part in their respective categories. All students who entered gainedhouse points for Twyford. Further congratulations go to the following students who were all either commendedor highly commended by the adjudicators:

Commended

Harry Collier-Smith, commended, intermediate woodwind

George Meynell, commended intermediate bass.

Highly Commended

Henry Aldington, highly commended, beginner guitar

Izaak Ashraf, highly commended, intermediate percussion

Cormac Bell, highly commended, lower intermediate guitar

Sean McGill, highly commended intermediate guitar

Issac Mendel, highly commended, beginner brass

Evie Murray, highly commended, voice

Adam Oakey, highly commended, intermediate woodwind

Thomas Parkin, highly commended, beginner piano

On top of this, particular congratulations should be extended to Matthew Stevens who won the beginner categoryfor woodwind and Jordan Perry who was the winner of the intermediate guitar competition.

Overall we came 5�� in the house competition, which on a positive note, is an improvement from last year’s 6��place!

House DramaThis year’s house drama was given the theme of ‘A picture paints a thousandwords’, whereby each house was given a famous painting for inspiration. For usit was ‘The Son of Man’ by Belgian surrealist René Magritte which gave inspirationto our performance titled: Rotton to the Core. The cast and directors put in manyhours of preparation and practice which was evident through their performancesover the two evenings. I certainly felt that the inclusivity, performance and timethat the boys put in warranted more than 5�� place, but maybe I am biased!

Cast

Anthony Ruse Arriyan Wells

Fredric Gomez Owen Widdowson

Mr Clinton Duncan King

Steve Johnson Ollie Robinson

Joey Jack Boulter

Barfly Harry Lawrence

Barfly Hadleigh Perry

Barfly Harry Burrows

W L D Goal Bonus Points PositionYear 10 2 2 1 0 7 4��Year 11 1 3 1 - 5 5��Years 12/13 2 2 1 - 8 4��

W L D Goal Bonus Points PositionYear 7 5 0 0 5 15 1��Year 8 3 0 2 2 13 1��Year 9 2 3 0 1 6 Tied 3��

House FootballThe ever-popular house football took place on Saturday 7�� March and was a successful day for Twyford. In themorning, Years 10, 11 and a combined sixth form team played against their peers. Results can be seen below:

W L D Goal Bonus Points PositionYear 10 2 2 1 0 7 4��Year 11 1 3 1 - 5 5��Years 12/13 2 2 1 - 8 4��

9T in action against 9W

Years 7, 8 and 9 competed in the afternoon and it was a very successful event for all three teams. The Year 7 and8 teams did particularly well, not losing a game between them. The Year 7 team managed to win all five gamesconvincingly and did not concede a goal in the process. As a result they won 5 bonus points too. Well done!

W L D Goal Bonus Points PositionYear 7 5 0 0 5 15 1��Year 8 3 0 2 2 13 1��Year 9 2 3 0 1 6 Tied 3��

Twyford’s winning Year 7 football team.

House DebatingWe also had the House Debating Competition this term. Harry Rogers and Sameed Shariq represented Twyfordand convincingly won their debate against Waytemore. The motion was: This house believes that advertising isharmful, with Harry and Sameed arguing in favour of the motion. The boys needed 41 points to secure a place inthe final but painstakingly fell just one short with 40!

9T Charity CompetitionFinally, Mrs Eagle’s form (9T) ran a Guess the Teacher charity competition for staff and students to raise moneyfor their form charity SANDS (Stillbirth and neonatal death) and the house charity (MIND). Students and staffmade a 50p donation to guess the various members of staff back in their school days! The winners, both scoring15/21 were Cameron Johnston and Annabelle Percy. As well as providing much entertainment, the competitionraised over £100 for the two charities.

A young Mr Patterson

Happy Easter,

Mr Osborne.

Head of Twyford

WAYTEMORE HOUSE REPORTWaytemore this year so far have shown themselves to be a dedicated team. Unfortunately this has not turnedinto first place but it is the commitment that counts and Waytemore have done me proud in that so far. Rugbyand football have not been our strong point this year, coming last and fifth respectfully. This despite the sixthform team in football doing a sterling job and notching up a good number of points.

Waytemore did a fantastic job at comedy during the house drama and came up with a play a number of daysbefore the actual event. A fantastic piece of drama got two of our actors commendations and our play was selectedto be shown at showcase, a great achievement and testament to the work the students had put into it.

This year we have also seen Waytemore come a respectable 4�� place in the music festival, showing that the artsare becoming more successful for Waytemore than the sport.

Many students have shown their dedication and commitment this year and I am extremely proud of everyWaytemore student. A big thank you must go to the exiting house officers in year 11 and to our current housepresident Stuart George.

Dominic Lilley has led Waytemore in year 11 this year and has done an excellent job at motivating and leadingthe students to compete. Kameron Shah has done a fantastic job of organising the house drama and leading themonto the success they have had, Jamie Rushworth has organised the sports teams and made sure that this yearwe were able to put out full teams in all areas. Frank Cuthbert has ensured by constant demonstration thatuniform is important and that staff will make sure that uniform is correct. Tobi Ajanaku has ensured that ourhouse has raised money and taken part in charity events. Ollie Dann has stepped up to the mark and ensuredthat morale stays high.

It has been a pleasure leading Waytemore this year so far and I am sure the summer will start to ring in the successwe are after.

Mr D Neesam

Head of Waytemore

PE

Year 7 FootballOverall, this year, Year 7 TBSHS Football has been a huge success with our A team winning nearly every game.Although the year 7 football team have only been together for a relatively short period of time the team hasstrong, determined players whose passion for the sport have driven them to attend training, play some challenginggames and some easier games but the outcome overall has been exceptional. I am going to mention some ofour memorable games over the last season.

Our first game was against Saffron Walden County High School. We went one up with a goal from HarryOlorenshaw. Then ten minutes after our second goal was scored through Finley Cameron-Prior. Our final goalstraight after half time made it 3-0, but within the last five minutes Saffron Walden got a goal back. Overall agreat first team performance.

Our next game was against St Mary’s Catholic School - this was definitely one of our best games with TBSHSwinning the game with 7-0 - being our biggest margin this season. Goals scored by George Seymour, Charlie Powelland Finley Cameron-Prior. It was another fantastic performance by our team.

In February our team were challenged against Brentwood School. We knew this was going to be a very toughgame as Brentwood are National Football Champions. In the first 10 minutes Brentwood went ahead with a 1-0score but within the next 10 minutes we equalised with Finley Cameron-Prior scoring from a cross. It then wentto half time. Brentwood then scored another two in very quick succession. We knew this was going to be a veryhard game but the team delivered well on the day.

In late February our next challenge was the District Tournament held at Birchwood High School. TBSHS was drawnagainst Birchwood, The Bishop’s Stortford College and Edwinstree in our group stage. Our first game in the groupstage was against The College with a goal from Francis Moore leading us to a win. The next match was againstBirchwood with us winning 1-0 with a goal from Archie Mullings. Finally our last group stage match was againstEdwinstree with us winning 2-0 with both goals from Finley Cameron-Prior. Moving through to the semi-finalswe won this match 1-0 with a goal from Harry Andrews. Through great team work and determination this tookthe TBSHS through to the final against Newport Grammar School. This was a very tense match with it going toextra time because of a no goal score. This then continued into extra time but again with a no goal score it wentonto penalties. TBSHS won 9-8 on penalties making us District Champions 2015.

The game following our success at the tournament was against Richard Hale. We went 1-0 down with an earlygoal from Richard Hale. We then equalised with a goal from Matt Curtis and another one from Alfie Springhall.After half time we got our final goal from Finley Cameron-Prior - leading us to win the game 3-1.

Our final game this season was against KEGS in Chelmsford. The game started evenly and about 15 minutes inDylan Cornelius scored to give us a 1-0 lead. Straight after half time Charlie Powell scored making it a 2-0 leadto TBSHS. Finally, in the last five minutes Finley Cameron-Prior scored the final two goals - That lead us to a 4-0win.

This season has been a huge success and look forward to continuing this success into the next season.

Year 11 ReportThe spring term has seen Y11 carry on in the strong fashion that we have become accustomed to, with the mainfocus being building on their mock exams, sat in the period just before Christmas.

The term started with the publication of their mock exam results, as well as Y11 parents’ evening in quicksuccession, which enabled boys to start to grasp the proximity of the impending challenge of their Y11 finalexaminations, to be sat in the summer. I have been enormously impressed by the boys’ mature approach inresponse to this vital checkpoint and feedback at this critical stage in their education. From the latest projectionsof grades for the actual exams in the summer, it is clear to me that many boys are taking on board the advicegiven to them, as well as actively putting it in to practice.

The term has also seen the final rounds of controlled assessments and coursework taking place and as ever, ithas been very pleasing to see that boys have been very active in accessing extra sessions being put on by staffacross the range of school subjects in preparation for these crucial parts of their overall course assessments, andI’m sure that this work now will pay great dividends in terms of eventual grades in August.

In the Performing Arts of Music and Drama, the year group was once again been well represented in the MusicFestival, with a number of boys either winning their categories, or being judged as commended or highlycommended.

On the sports field, football has been the main focus, where training numbers have been typically strong. BothA and B teams have had successful seasons, with strong performances seen against Saffron Walden, Verulam,and Wymondham. My two personal highlights have been the U16B away win against Harrow, as well as the U16splaying a key role in being part of the 1�� and 2ⁿ� XI’s against Brentwood. Performances against top oppositionhave been characteristic of the year group’s performances across many sports for a number of years now, it hasbeen fantastic to see this continue as the boys’ time together comes to an end. It was especially pleasing to seethe Y11 group have the best turn out of any year group to the recent Inter house Football competition, with theboys once again setting a fantastic example to the younger boys in the school.

In other areas, boys from the year have also represented the school  in the inter-school quiz, competing againstsome of the best schools in the region in all of the state, independent and selective sectors. It was fantastic tohear from Mr Fraser that the Y11 boys were part of very much a "two team effort", with every student contributingcorrect answers and all of them a pleasure to be with, gracious in both victory and defeat.

Boys will have a busy Easter Holiday ahead of them, with revision being once again the primary concern for allboys, who will be sitting their final GCSE examinations in the summer session, starting in May. Boys will onceagain need to be using their Easter Holiday productively in order to be in the best position possible to tacklethese exams, so that their results in August are doing justice to their individual potential.

May I take this opportunity to once again thank the Y11 tutor team for all of their daily support to all boys in Y11,as well as wish you all a very restful Easter, and look forward to welcoming boys back for the all-important summerterm.

Ross Wheatley

Head of Year 11

Careers and Work Experience

CAREERS YEARS 7-11, SPRING TERMThe Spring Term has been a busy time for Careers with numerous visitors and presentations to our students acrossall of the year groups. It won’t be long before our Year 10’s embark on their important Work Experienceprogramme during the school’s Enrichment Week and even Year 8 will get a taste of Careers with their ShadowingDay planned for 22nd June.

Here’s a round-up of this term’s events:

Year 11 CV & Application Session January 10th 2015On 10th January 2015, our Youth Connexions advisor Karen Charles, was joined by her colleague Claire Bilby andtogether, they delivered a very useful session to all our Year 11 students CV’s and Applications. Karen & Claireexplained the importance of writing a really good CV and how to make YOUR application stand out from numerousothers – all of which was backed up with useful resources.

Year 8 Options Choice Presentation 24th February 2015Our Youth Connexions advisor, Karen Charles spoke to the whole of Year 8 and delivered an informative andinteresting session - Options Choices. The session aims to help the students with their Year 9 Foundation Yearsubject choices as well as cement their subject course choices at GCSE.

Karen commented on how keen and enthusiastic the students were plus there was a very animated Q & A sessionafterwards!

Cascaid Kudos Presentations25th November 2014 – Year 11

8th February 2015 - Year 8

In recent weeks, our Youth Connexions advisor Karen Charles hasdelivered the Cascaid ‘Kudos’ session to students in Years 8 & 11.

What is Kudos?

Kudos is an impartial online careers guidance and informationprogram that helps students make informed decisions regarding theirfuture. By looking at their own careers ideas and exploring suggestionswithin the program, students can see how well matched they are totheir aspirations & interests. Study and training options are alsoconsidered as are subjects currently studying or planning to study.

Over the last 20 years, Kudos has helped millions of young people with careers decisions and continues to be themost popular careers guidance tool.

The students really enjoyed their sessions and we’re sure they found the sessions informative and interesting.

Year 8 Student explores Kudos

Money Skills Presentation – Tuesday 10th March 2015Our Lower School students received a useful lesson in the world offinance on Tuesday when TBSHS welcomed special guests DebbieHoffman, Business Manager at Barclays Bank, Bishop’s Stortford andher colleague Kate Doyle.

Debbie & Kate started the session first by emphasising the differencebetween what we want, what we can afford and what we need –useful tips for the future no doubt. There was some useful adviceon savings and how beneficial it is to put even a small sum of pocketmoney aside each month and how important it is to get in to thehabit of saving from a young age. Our students now know what amortgage is, as well having loans, credit cards & APR explained – allvery useful for a few years hence.

There were some lighter moments too with plenty of video clips ofreal-life scenarios plus a fun-quiz with questions such as what is theprice of an annual TV licence etc – with a Barclays Bank t-shirt forthe winner.

We are grateful to Debbie & Kate for giving up their time and comingto TBSHS it was a very informative session and one that we hope the students will remember in just a few yearstime !

Lower School Money Skills Presentation

National Citizenship ServicePresentation on Tuesday 24thMarch 2015We were very happy to welcome Evie Taylorfrom Reed in Partnership who visited ourYear 11 students and delivered a very lively,animated & upbeat session on the NationalCitizenship Service. The scheme runs in asimilar way to the Duke of Edinburghprogramme and is being promoted to ouryoung people as an alternative way ofvolunteering as well as gaining immeasurableinterpersonal skills.

Open to 16 & 17 year olds only, students take part in ateam project that will help in their community as wellas developing greater confidence, self-awareness andresponsibility. It encourages personal and socialdevelopment by working on skills such as leadership,teamwork and communication. Participants develop asocial action project to deal with a local issue they’repassionate about and spend 30 hours putting theproject into action in their community. It’s a win-winprogramme!

Apprenticeship Presentation for Year 11 Students24th March 2015

An apprenticeship can be as sought after asa place at a highly regarded University -such is the competition for places. Theapprenticeship scheme is becoming a morepopular and conventional recruitment pathby Companies and seen as a credible & realalternative to University for many of ouryoung people.

Year 11 students were lucky enough to hearfrom our Youth Connexions colleaguesKaren Charles & Alex Bateson, just how anapprenticeship programme works and thevery distinct advantages it offers.

Combining practical training in a job withstudy, apprentices work alongsideexperienced staff, gain job-specific skills, earn a salary (and receive holiday pay) and study towards a relatedqualification for 1 day p/week. An apprenticeship can take between 1 and 4 years to complete depending ontheir level and on completion of the programme; successful individuals will receive Intermediate, Advanced or aHigher qualification.

Our students were extremely engaged throughout the session and commented on how useful it was. It was goodto see the students recognising its significance - especially in the current job climate. City firms are recruitingapprentices as well as Graduates and we are thrilled that two of our Year 13 students have gained prestigiousapprentice places with Lloyds of London and Deloitte.

Claire Jonas

Careers Coordinator

The Bishop’s Stortford High School

Links

For the latest news about TBSHS, and to view previously published articlesvisit:http://www.tbshs.org/News.aspx